All Said And Done- Accomplished

Well the quarter of the adventure courses is over. I succeeded which was a huge accomplishment for being fresh out of surgery. The surgery ended up holding me back quite a bit. Not from the actual testing but from the practicing and performance. A lot of things I had to do left handed or with incorrect form, and a lot of it was risky. Who would of thought within two months after a shoulder surgery I would be rollerblading, rock climbing or mountain biking. It was quite the effort and I am very proud of myself and cohort. We all worked very hard to achieve what we did. One of my favorite parts of the quarter was watching others cheer each one another on and succeeding. You could tell everyone practiced very hard. One quote that came to mind while doing this was "The harder you practice; the harder it is to give up." This was definitely true because you could tell everyone worked especially hard because nobody wanted to give up or quit. Its nice to see our sense of teamwork and pride we hold within our cohort. These last two years getting to know this group of people has been amazing. I don't think I could have a better group of students to go through the program with. Everyone brings there own individuality and  personality to the table and I have had the most fun ever!

Circus Art Testing Day 2

Today was our last day of testing for Circus Arts. I had to really buckle down and try to accomplish the three activities I had left. They were the diablo, juggling and roller blading. I grew up roller blading so I wasn't too worried about that. I had never done the diablo though so I was pretty worried I would struggle. I kept on trying though and wasn't successful time after time. All I needed was six tricks and 30 seconds of performance. An hour passed and I hadn't finished yet. I was getting close. I felt like I had 20 tricks but my success rate was so low I couldn't get through my routine. As I rolled upon two hours, I tried and I finished. I got 7 tricks actually and I went for 8. My 8th trick was a toss and a 360 degree catch. I didn't get the success of the trick but I did get the Intermediate level success.

Circus Art Testing Day 1

Today was the big day. The whole quarter we have practiced for the circus arts so we could test at the end and either get advanced for intermediate status. Well since I got my shoulder surgery I didn't participate too much in the earlier classes. So this testing was going to take me by surprise. The main objective of the day was frisbee. I practiced for a bit then I went to town. I ended up using my left arm to throw and we had to get one forehand and the rest could be backhand. I have to give a lot of props to my catcher: Jason Wiley. He made me look like a professional even though I really am. I completed all of my passes then I caught five in a row to get two unexpected advanced grades.

Climb On! At Parshastin!

It was a beautiful day! Hot, no wind, and blue skies. Drew and I set out in the morning to the Wenatchee area and climb all day. The weather was extremely hot! It didn't take but a little walk up the hill and I was sweating a river. After all winter I was wishing for hot weather, and now I was looking for any shade I could. The goal for the day was to get 5 completed climbs, 3 ballets, and 1 repel done. Besides being too hot, and on the hot rock, the shoes were way to small and left blisters all over my feet. But, the day was successful and I accomplished all the climbs and got advanced in all the tests. After we got done climbing we went into Leavenworth and ate at a burger joint with all the volunteers and the movement class. After a long day of climbing, I think this might have been the most fun day of the quarter. It was the first time I actually did real rock climbing and I loved it. I definitely want to get into climbing because you don't realize how hard your working until your done climbing and off the rock.

Practicing Our Climbing

This day was extremely fun. Rock climbing is something I haven't done much of in my life but since I'm crazy and have no real fears it didn't phase me. We learned everything necessary to climbing so we would go to Pinnacle and climb. After we picked up all of our gear and learned how to correctly get ready to climb. We climbed on. I was the first climber and I was on the wall that leaned back so it was the most difficult. I made it halfway but didn't want to hurt my shoulder anymore then it already was, so I said, "Falling". As I fell I wrapped around another rope that was needed. They lowered me and the pulley at the very top of the wall had messed up. We unwrapped myself and got me all untied. Doc then came over and told us that one of us was going to have to climb to the very top and fix the pulley. As everyone went through and no one made it to the top everyone insisted I was the one that would have to go fix the pulley. Unfortunately, I got all ready to go up this rock wall. I set off climbing. I made it 3/4 the way and my hand started going numb. My forearms started cramping and I started getting worried I wouldn't make it. My group was relying on me though. I had to make it to the top. I waited for a second, gathered my composure and continued.  I made it within reasonable distance of the pulley, but not quite there and I fell. Luckily they caught me and I didn't drop at all. I was dangling from the top of a 40 foot rock wall. I was able to grab a hold of a cleat and go back on the wall, I grabbed that darn pulley and fixed it all up. I was the savior. I had done it, something I thought wouldn't be possible to do. I left the class feeling like I had conquered the world, which I had!

The Hardcore Bike Ride

At the beginning of this course, I had a hurt shoulder from surgery and was suspect to pass the class. As my physical therapy went on I took on the challenge of doing the hardcore bike ride. I knew this would be a definite challenge for me but I needed it. I set out today to accomplish this mountain we were riding up and down. Right when we started out, we went up the hardest spot of the trip. The first quarter mile was like riding on a beach with big boulders in the way. Limwell fell and my chain fell right off. Right then, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. I kept working hard and rode even harder. I made it through this hardcore bike ride. I had a lot of fun riding bikes. After we got done I went and talk to my friend about other mountain biking we could do. I have taken bike riding up since then and am having a lot fun with it. It is a good workout and its something that when you do, you can't stop, you just gotta keep pushing yourself.

Hiking Mt Manashdash

Today we hiked Mt. Menashdash which is a few miles out of Ellensburg, Washington. The hike was to be about 3 miles long. It was a good workout and it was good time being in nature with my close classmates. We learned about the environment and learned a few different plants. This was  my first time ever hiking in an area that had rattler snakes. I am scared of snakes! We made it to the top and got some water, signed a log book and ate lunch in the beautiful weather. The view on top of this mountain was amazing. As we walked down the mountain we saw a Bull Snake. It was about ten feet in front of me and I my heart was ticking pretty fast as I started to run back up the mountain. Overall this was a great experience and I had a great time doing this!